wfn.org | Consultation on Church Union's dream for unity entering new phase

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Note #6488 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

12-April-2001
01131

Consultation on Church Union's dream for unity entering new phase

by James Solheim
Episcopal News Service

Nine denominations that have been nurturing a 40-year-old dream for church
unity are ready to move into a new relationship, even though they have been
forced to postpone hopes for full communion until they can resolve
differences on ministry.

While admitting that the nine churches of the Consultation on Church Union
(COCU) "are not yet at the point where they can live in full communion with
one another, they are surely beyond the stage of occasional cooperation,"
said the Rev. Michael Kinnamon, general secretary of COCU, in a recent
Christian Century article. "Not all theological issues need be resolved
before the churches give formal expression to the life that, in some places,
they are already beginning to share." Next January they will inaugurate
Churches Uniting in Christ (CUIC).

The nine denominations are the African Methodist Episcopal Church, African
Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Christian Church-Disciples of Christ,
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, Episcopal Church, International
Council of Community Churches, Presbyterian Church (USA), United Church of
Christ, and United Methodist Church.

Kinnamon also pointed out that, since its beginning, COCU's "special
significance and promise has been that it includes three predominantly
African-American denominations and thus challenges the color barrier that
has so divided U.S. Christianity."

Doing local mission together and sharing resources will become natural but
"the real test will be whether attitudes begin to change. "We have lived so
long with denominations acting like competing corporations that it will take
time and effort even to imagine alternatives," according to Kinnamon.

           Ecumenical realities

Since Presbyterian Stated Clerk Eugene Carson Blake stood in the pulpit of
Grace Cathedral in San Francisco in 1960 and laid out a bold plan calling
for a merger of several major American churches, the road to unity has been
a bumpy one. The Consultation on Church Union (COCU) was founded in 1962 and
produced a Plan for Union in 1970 that was not accepted because of major
differences over how participants ordered their ministries. A plan in the
1980s for the formation of a "covenant communion" had to be modified when
both Presbyterians and Episcopalians backed away because of disagreements on
the role of oversight - specifically bishops and ruling elders.

Yet the dream persisted and changed shape as it faced new ecumenical
realities. In a statement following the 18th plenary of COCU in January
1999, members said they "confess that we have not always been certain of the
road toward visible unity in Christ, or patient with the pace of our
journey," but added that they were convinced that "we do not go the journey
alone and that, as we have traveled together, we have grown in love for one
another."

The plenary decided that love and trust makes possible a new relationship,
Churches Uniting in Christ, which will be inaugurated January 18-21, 2002 in
Memphis during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

"The full reconciliation of ministries, as well as resolution of any
remaining challenges, is a goal we seek to accomplish and proclaim by the
time of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in 2007," the plenary
statement said.

          Reconciled ministry?

At a meeting of the COCU executive committee in Massachusetts in March,
Kinnamon said that only two years ago the churches seemed at "an impasse -
still wanting to be in relationship but uncertain about how to move forward
given historic differences with regard to ministry." He said that some were
even predicting that "the whole COCU effort was in danger of unraveling."

Instead, it has been possible to move ahead with inauguration of CUIC and
commit "to one more round of intensive dialogue on ministry."

That commitment to dialogue is crucial for the Episcopal Church and its
future role in CUIC. At its January meeting in Dallas, the Episcopal
Church's Standing Commission on Ecumenical Relations called attention to a
resolution from the last General Convention that "receives with enthusiasm"
the proposals for CUIC and the church's commitment to "continuing
participation in COCU and to a process of engagement and dialogue."

The General Convention resolution also expressed its appreciation for COCU's
intent "to adopt the three-fold ministry of bishop, presbyter and deacon as
part of the process of ministerial reconciliation" and its affirmation that
"a reconciled ministry shall include bishops" who stand in continuity with
the historic episcopate. The standing commission asked COCU "to establish
prior to the inauguration, a process whereby issues regarding recognition
and reconciliation of ordained ministry may be resolved before the
establishment of full communion of the member churches."

"The ministry of oversight needs special attention so that churches with
corporate or personal oversight and those with oversight in the historic
succession of bishops can be reconciled in a way that invites universal
recognition," the 1999 COCU plenary said. It called for a committee to
"clarify the meaning of reconciliation of ministry," expressing the hope
that "new approaches" would make full communion possible by 2007.

          Not the final step

Kinnamon told the executive committee that the Memphis celebration would be
"a big step but not the final step." Several other "partners in mission and
dialogue" are expressing interest in CUIC--including the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America, the Moravians and the American Baptists. He
repeated his caution that CUIC was not just another structure but "a new way
of being the church."

He added, "Never before have churches with such diversity attempted to live
into an exciting, unique relationship--one that could reshape the ecumenical
movement in the coming generation. The dream of Blake lives, although it has
faced challenging ecumenical realities."

He also argued that "the focus on combating racism is surely on target. No
one can pretend there is justice in the land or equality in the church." It
is ironic, he said, that "racism has divided us and now it unites us."

Yet he said he is troubled by recent conversations with those who were
largely interested in how the new relationship would benefit them on the
local level. "The way we live is a betrayal of the Gospel," Kinnamon said.
"We are called to maintain the spirit of unity because God has willed it.
Instead, we continue to be willfully disobedient. This is a crucial time for
our witness."

The 19th and final plenary of COCU will convene January 18, 2002 and when it
adjourns the next evening, CUIC will be officially launched. The day will
close with a Eucharist at St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, with Presiding
Bishop Frank T. Griswold serving as celebrant. The Inaugural Service of
Worship will be held at Mt. Olive Cathedral (CME) on Sunday, January 20.

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